Mohanrao Palekar

Mohanrao Palekar (Devanagari: मोहनराव पालेकर) (1898–1962) was a noted Hindustani classical vocalist and is considered a stalwart of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, commonly referred as "Jaipur Gharana".

Musical Journey

Mohanrao was born in a musically oriented middle-class family. He somehow waited patiently till he completed the matriculation examination and then left home to pursue his aspirations in the field of music and stage performances. Like many marathi singers, Mohanrao moved to Hindustani Classical Music via Natya Sangeet. He first joined "Bharat Natak Mandali" as a stage actor. Here Mohanrao was not getting any opportunities to showcase his natural musical talent. Later, he worked with Govindrao Tembe's "Shivraj Natak Mandali", and there his talent got new opportunity and direction.

While working at the "Shivaraj Natak Mandali", Mohanrao met Ahmed Khan sahib from Alladiya Khan sahib's gharana; Ahmed khan sahib was the grandson of Alladiya Khan Sahib's guru Jehangir Khan Sahib. Ahmed Khan sahib was well trained in the traditional gharana style but was not a very well known singer because of his indifferent attitude. However, Mohanrao recognized Ahmed Khan sahib's talent and became his disciple. Needless to say that Mohanrao got taleem in the truest tradition of the gharana. He also got ample opportunities to listen to great musicians ad libitum. He was well known for creating style and technique of the Jaipur gayaki.

Despite the training and the talent, Mohanrao could not pursue his aspirations to be a full-time classical music exponent due to family and other considerations; his performances were mostly confined to private mehfils. Therefore, he was not widely known to the general public. However, he was very highly revered among the knowledgeable and cognoscenti musicians, artists and listeners.

Disciples

His disciples include Pt. Ratnakar Pai, Manohar Potdar, Pt. G. T. Tilak (popularly known as टिळक मास्तर), Krishnarao Chonakar, Kishori Amonkar, Kamal Pathare, Suresh Haldankar, Bhalchandra Patekar etc.

References

^ G. K. Nimkar: प्रथम मासिक श्राद्धदिनानिमित्त वाहिलेले परिचयपुष्प - a brief biographical sketch after the first month